Spaces for Community

We cannot create community, but we can create spaces that support community.

We cannot create community, but we can create spaces in which community might develop and flourish. Since community is organic and alive, only God can create it. On the other hand, we can participate with God by designing spaces that provide the appropriate resources for growth. And I am speaking here of actual three-dimensional spaces.

The first concern is the number of persons for which a space is being designed, as density can either help or hinder. Second, the type of desired relationships matter (see Myers), for this determines density. Finally, attend to the provisions needed for relationships to flourish. These include that which supports participation, communication, and interaction. These provisions have to do with the development of persons and their capacities, not with programs and curriculum. Persons-in-community always come first. Programs may follow.

See The Search to Belong by Joseph R. Myers for more on this topic.